


Creativity Builds Worlds

by Aubree_Trueheart, RavenWingz



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Art, Character(s) of Color, Christmas, Competition, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, First Time, Fluff and Humor, Gay Male Character(s), Holidays, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Male Friendship, Minor character suicide, References to Depression, Social Anxiety, college students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 15:02:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13238226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aubree_Trueheart/pseuds/Aubree_Trueheart, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenWingz/pseuds/RavenWingz
Summary: Oliver Hayes, a struggling college student with a love for art, travels to spend his winter break with his best friend, Gabriel. The two of them along with the rest of Gabriel’s friends enter an art competition called Art Conquers All. How could they not? The prize was a whopping sum of a quarter of a million dollars; a majority of the sum going toward improving the number of fine arts classes within schools as well as their quality. If the trouble of keeping up with that isn’t stressful enough, it certainly is when certain aspects of his past are brought back to life starting with the thin lines scattered across his wrists.A month’s time changes his life in a way he hadn’t known possible. From the gaining of three new friends he can gladly call family, the growing attraction to his best friend, and the loss of a loved one, those few weeks contain events far more interesting than the events of his entire lifetime combined.Will their dedication and dexterity be enough to guarantee them a win and push them even a step closer to their dreams? Will they be able to overcome the constant challenges and problems thrown their way and come out on the better end?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story along with the characters belong to me. Please do not use them without my consent. If any character or event relates to a real-life situation or person, it is purely coincidental. Feedback is welcome!
> 
> If any of the following themes disturb you, please don’t attempt to read this story. Along with the mostly happy themes, topics such as homophobia, depression, anxiety, suicide, and even sexual themes with be brought up. You have been warned.
> 
> I've decided to add a co-creator to this story named Aubree Trueheart. She has her own works so make sure to check those out! Thanks for the support!

Oliver reached into his closet for a grey turtleneck shirt and another pair of jeans with a thin light brown hand. He set the garments on his bed and ran a hand over them. The material was worn and he’d knew he would need to invest in more clothing soon.  He was a practically broke college student and providing for himself was hard, especially without any kind of financial support from his parents. He quickly but neatly folded the clothing before gently placing them into his bag.

He reached for his phone to steal a glance at the time. It was half-past one o’clock. He had around an hour and a half to get ready before Gabriel should show up. He shivered slightly as he pulled his shirt off over his head while making his way to his bathroom. He threw the shirt somewhere in the corner before unbuttoning his jeans and pulling them down below his waist along with his boxers. He stepped out of them and tugged off his socks slowly. Once he was fully nude, he glanced up at himself in the mirror.

Tired dark eyes stared back at him. He reached behind himself and took hold of his long hair. He pulled the hair tie from the bottom of the thick, long braid and gently began to unbraid his hair. His hair fell down his back just above his hips. Oliver ran a hand through the locks aiming to finger comb his hand to rid the strands of any possible knots or tangles. He sighed in appreciation as his scalp was stimulated by his light hands tugging softly at long raven strands of hair. He repeated the same process for some minutes before finally turning on the shower and stepping inside.

He let the lukewarm water run through his hair and down his back. His hair slowly began to curl and went from below waist length, to above waist length. He let loose a relieved sigh. The shower soothed him and made him forget most of his troubles. It was a place where he tended to let go of all the bad in himself, a place where he could  _think_  without having a mental breakdown. Today was no different. While he was anxious to be meeting up with an old friend he hadn’t seen in over a year, he was also excited.

He could safely say that was an emotion he didn’t experience often.

* * *

 

 

Gabriel slowed down at a stop light, blindly reaching for his phone in the passenger seat. He managed to quickly dial a familiar number before the stoplight turned green again. He waited for the phone to finish ringing before putting his phone up to his ear. When his call when answered shortly after, he smiled even though the person on the other line couldn’t see it.

“Hey, my little Olive.”

There was silence for a few seconds before a smooth voice sounded on the other line. “Don’t call me that. What’d you want?”

“Just calling to tell you I’ll be there in a few,” Gabriel informed, turning a corner. “You about ready yet?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about coming up here. You’ll probably get lost. I’ll just come down there and wait for you in the parking lot.”

Gabriel only nodded, forgetting Oliver couldn’t see. He smiled as he took in his surroundings. He drove past parks and shops that seemed so foreign to him now even though he had lived there just two years prior. Everything looked so different than he was used to. He’d moved out of state once he’d graduated high school in search of somewhere with more possibilities and a change. While his old home brought comfort, it most definitely wasn’t the best place to live. Gabriel had tried to convince Oliver to move with him and to try to get into the same college but he hadn’t wanted change.

Maybe he had been afraid? A fear of the unknown.

“Gabe? You there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I was just thinking about this town. It brings back memories…”

“Yeah,” Oliver murmured, “it does.”

“You know I’ve missed you?” Gabriel confessed, gripping the steering wheel tighter unconsciously. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to call often. I’ve just been so busy with work-”

“It’s alright. I get it.”

“I just want you to know I haven’t forgotten.” Gabriel put the phone on speaker and sat it in a cup holder to his side. “Would you by any chance consider moving down t-”

“Gabe, I can’t. I don’t have the money for all of that. Not to mention that would be one year of school down the drain…”

“I know someone who could help you with money,” Gabriel offered. “I’m sure he’d let you live with us. And I’d be willing to help you with any of your studies or work for however lo-”

“We talked about this already,” Oliver murmured, his words soft and his next words even more so. “I’m not moving.”

Gabriel sighed and ran a hand through his curly red hair. There were no words spoken between the two for a while. There was just pure, comfortable, silence. Gabriel only spoke up when he neared the dorm building Oliver was staying in, turning into the parking lot.

“I’m here on the west side. Are you sure you don’t need any help with bags or anything?”

“I’m fine, I didn’t pack much. Be down there in a few.”

* * *

 

 

Oliver grabbed the last of his things and slid on his black combat boots. Upon getting out of the shower, he had hastily braided up his hair and threw on some clothes. He dressed the same way he always had; in long-sleeved shirts and skinny jeans. He usually dressed in darker toned clothing and today was no different.

He threw his bookbag over his shoulder and slid his phone into his back pocket before stepping out of his dorm room. It was winter break so he wouldn’t be there for somewhere around a month and a half. He had originally planned on just resting up or finishing some of his art pieces he hadn’t had time to work on before, but now his plans had changed drastically. All due to a randomly timed phone call from Gabriel. He was still somewhat lost on what the hell was happening, but he tried not to think too much about it. Even if their plans went to shit, at the very least he would still be able to spend a whole month with an old friend.

He quickly made his way down the stairs and out the door into the west parking lot. He stood on the sidewalk, glancing around for a familiar head of curly raven black hair. Oliver’s eyebrows furrowed when an almost unfamiliar male made his way up to him. Don’t get him wrong, he recognized that same chocolate brown skin and those friendly dark brown eyes. He recognized his facial features as well as his body build. What he didn’t recognize was the head of curly, dyed red hair or the piercings in his eyebrow and littered throughout his ear. Not to mention the makeup the male was wearing managed to throw him off a little. It didn’t look crazy and was fairly moderate; it was just surprising to see on a male, let only Gabriel.

He flinched when Gabriel wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, managing to lift him off the ground a little despite the fact Oliver was an inch taller.

“Okay, okay,” Oliver wheezed softly, rubbing the other male’s back slowly. “Let me go.”

Gabriel laughed, pulling back to smile at him. “You look the same as when I saw you last time.”

“You look very…” Oliver paused, looking Gabriel up and down with a blank expression. “-different.”

Gabriel looked confused for a moment before a flicker of realization lit up in his eyes. He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck with a chuckle. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

Oliver’s lips curved up a bit at the side. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just… different.”

“I, uh, found a new style,” Gabriel explained. “What do you think?”

“It’s different.”

“Besides the fact  _it’s different_ , Olive.” Gabriel crossed his arms across his chest, still smiling. “I want to know what you honestly think. Don’t be afraid of hurting my feelings if you don’t like it.”

“The piercings and your hair are cool, but don’t you think the makeup is a bit much?”

Gabriel shrugged. “It’s only eyeliner. I just got into messing around with makeup. It’s like art.. but it’s on your face.”

Oliver huffed a few breaths of laughter, pushing past Gabriel to make his way to a familiar steel grey car. “That’s one way to think of it.”

Oliver slid into the passenger seat of the car, watching as Gabriel took his seat on the driver’s side and started up the car. “Well, I’m not the only one with a bit of an appearance change. You’ve, uh… lost weight a bit. What’s that about? You’ve been eating right?”

Even though Gabriel wasn’t looking directly at him when he said it, he caught the concerned look on the other male’s features. Oliver shrugged, “Yeah.”

“You sure?”

Oliver nodded, looking out the window. “I’m sure.”

Gabriel chose to let the topic go and just believe in Oliver’s word. He knew from years of knowing Oliver that he was no liar. Despite him being as quiet as he was, he usually had no problem voicing his thoughts. It was either that, or he said nothing at all.

They drove in comfortable silence. Sometime during the ride, Oliver began to nod off. He knew it’d be a long ride, somewhere around twenty hours long, before he arrived at their destination. Gabriel watched as Oliver’s eyes began to shut, smiling at the male. He decided to let him get some rest. God knew he’d need it once he met his other friends at the house.

* * *

 

 

Lucas watched with tired eyes as Wyatt ran through the living room, Evan chasing after him. There was always something going on between the two, so he wasn’t very surprised.

“Wyatt, give me back my goddamn glasses you little shit! You know I need them to see!”

“Get them yourself, fucker!”

Lucas shook his head at their antics, grimacing as a thump sound followed by a curse from Evan. He opened his mouth to speak, clearing his throat. “You know, you guys should probably calm down. This  _is_  an apartment and we’ve gotten enough complaints because of you two.”

“Then tell this dumbass to give me my shit back!” Evan yelled from another room.

Lucas put his head in his hands. “Wyatt, give him his shit back... ”

It was clear Wyatt didn’t listen as he ran through the living room again. The tall male laughed. “He can see just fine. He’s having no problem chasing me, right?”

Lucas knew he could probably get them back for Evan by himself, but he was far too tired to make any sort of attempt. He was the oldest of all the males living in the home, standing at the age of twenty-three. He was rather tall, but still not tall enough to outmatch Wyatt. He had fair skin and short dyed platinum blonde hair. His eyes were a light grey, light enough to the point they almost appeared unnatural. He was often complimented on his eyes, as they were the feature that stood out the most.

He jumped with startled eyes as another bump sounded. “Guys, please! Can’t you guys just go to sleep?”

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Wyatt called out, practically panting the words out.

“I’m waiting for Gabriel to get back,” Lucas explained. “He should be here any moment with company. I tried to call him but he didn’t answer. I’m hoping nothing happened.”

Wyatt scoffed, walking into the living room to sit beside Lucas with heavy steps. “Yo, my guy, are you actually worried? Gabriel isn’t an idiot. He’ll be fine.”

“Accidents don’t always have to do with you being an idiot,” Lucas pointed out. “He insisted on driving for twenty hours there and back with absolutely no rest. Not to mention it looks like it will rain soon. I have every reason to be worried.”

“Hmm… whatever mom.”

Lucas was about to make another comment when he realized Evan had suddenly disappeared. He gave Wyatt a curious look mixed with a bit of suspicion. “What happened to Evan? What’d you do?”

Wyatt shrugged, folding his arms behind his head. “I gave him his glasses back.”

“How?”

Wyatt smiled. “I put them on the highest shelf in the bathroom.”

Lucas shook his head but couldn’t help but to laugh a little. “Take them down and give them back to him already before he hurts himself.”

“It’s fine! I got ‘em,” Evan called out, appearing in the living room with the other males a moment later. He aimed a pointed look at Wyatt as he slid the black framed glasses over his face, proceeding to sit as far away from him as possible. “One of these days you’re going to break them and that’s going to be the day I have to kick your ass.”

“How shorty? I bet you can’t even reach my face.”

Evan leaned his head back on the couch, letting his eyes slip shut with a sigh. “Yes the hell I can and you know it. And I’m not short, you’re just freakishly tall.”

Wyatt smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Excuses, excuses.”

“For the record,” Evan murmured with a yawn, “Gabriel should be fine, Lucas. Calm your tits before you jinx him and something actually happens.”

“Jinxing isn't real.”

“Remember the vacation we took last year?”  he asked, continuing when Lucas gave a nod of confirmation. “You said you hoped it wouldn't snow and that traffic wouldn't be bad. Five fucking hours later, we’re four hours late to check in.”

Lucas shrugged. “That's called a coincidence.”

“Nope,” Wyatt chimed in, “that's called your stupid ass jinxing us.”

Evan nodded. “Exactly.”

Lucas chuckled to himself, shaking his head. He, too, shut his eyes and tried to make himself comfortable. There was comfortable silence for the time being, the night finally seeming to still. Lucas sighed, slumping in his seat lazily. The peacefulness was short-lived, his eyes snapping open at the sound of knocking on the door.

_~When did I fall asleep?~_

“The fuck?” Wyatt groaned, rubbing at his forehead with an aching hand. He'd fallen asleep with his head resting on the appendage, the blood flow being cut off and leaving his hand throbbing. “Yo, someone get the door…”

Lucas stood up, grimacing as he felt the bones in his long legs give a small  _pop_. “I got it.”

As he made his way to the door, he heard Evan complain somewhere behind him. “Shit… I feel like I've been drugged…”

Lucas shook his head at the comment. No matter how much sleep Evan got, he always woke up complaining. He guessed he couldn't exactly blame him though. He didn't exactly feel too grand either upon opening his eyes.

He dropped the thoughts as he tugged the door open. If his mind wasn't muddled by the exhaustion weighing heavily down on him, he might have considered actually checking who was on the other side before opening it. Thankfully, though, it was who he had expected and not some murderer.

Lucas smiled. “Gabriel… you made it back in one piece.”

“Uh, yeah,” the male murmured, covering his mouth with a yawn. “It was only a road trip.”

“I called you and you didn't answer,” Lucas said, deciding to cut right to the chase. “I was beginning to wonder if you'd gotten hurt.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Oops.”

He pushed past Lucas into the home. That was when Lucas finally realized their expected guest was behind him. He was of average height, only towering over Gabriel by an inch. The bags under his eyes suggested he was tired and that maybe he hadn't been getting as much sleep as he needed. The male muttered a soft “hi” but besides that, he only stood there awkwardly, seemingly at a loss for what to say or do.

Lucas grinned at his apparent shyness. “Hello, I'm Lucas. You're Oliver, right?”

The male nodded. “Yeah.”

“Alright, no more talking for tonight!” Gabriel announced, interrupting whatever Lucas had been about to say. He scooped Oliver up in his arms bridal style earning a yelp from the other male. “I'm gonna take my little Olive to our room so we can get some sleep. Good night!”

“Wait!” Wyatt called, “We don't get any introductions?”

“Nope! You'll have to wait until tomorrow!”

* * *

 

 

Oliver’s face heated up dramatically as he was carried to whatever room Gabriel had spoken of. He had wanted to just get introductions out of the way but apparently, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Put me down,” Oliver commanded, still hanging on to the red-haired male in fear of being dropped.

“In a moment,” Gabriel promised with a huff.

Gabriel slowly made his way through the room, stepping over tons of discarded clothing that he hadn’t gotten around to washing and hanging up. He winced slightly when he stepped on something sharp, not bothering to see what it was. He’d meant to clean up before leaving but the thought completely slipped his mind in his excitement.

He set Oliver down on a surprisingly made bed and moved swiftly to turn a lamp on. The lamp provided a soft glow of light that just barely managed to light up the room. Gabriel sat down next to Oliver, gesturing around the room with a hand. “This is mi habitacion. Please make yourself welcome.”

Oliver’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“My room,” Gabriel explained with a smile. “This is my room.”

“Well thanks for telling me. Otherwise, I might have mistaken it for a pigsty.”

“Sorry…”

“It's fine.” Oliver glanced around in confusion at the lack of another bed in the room, turning to Gabriel with questioning eyes. “Where am I sleeping?”

“Here-” Gabriel patted the mattress below them. “-with me.”

“I can sleep on the couch,” Oliver offered. Years ago he may have been fine with sharing a bed with his friend, but now he felt uncomfortable.

“Nope,” Gabriel pushed him down so he was lying on his back. “You’re sleeping here.”

Before Oliver could object, Gabriel was laying down next to him, his head resting on his chest. The shorter male wrapped his arms around his waist causing Oliver to tense up.

Oliver flushed, squirming around. “We’re not even gonna change?”

“Too tired…”

“The light…”

“It’s fine,” Gabriel reassured, glancing up at his face with a grin. “Stop worrying and get some rest.”

He said it like it was the easiest thing to do in the world. Maybe it was to some people, maybe even most, but Oliver wasn’t  _most people_. Worrying came naturally to him. Even then, he tried to follow Gabriel’s example, shutting his eyes and pretending everything was alright.

Maybe it was?


	2. Chapter 2

Oliver yawned, stretching out both his arms and legs lazily and letting out a satisfied sigh. He gave a jump when he felt a warm breath against his neck, tensing up when he realized who it belonged to. The male murmured something soft against his skin and his tone seemed to be annoyed.

“Stop moving…”

Oliver held still for the moment obediently. He felt mildly uncomfortable but also...warm. It’d been a while since he last spent time with anyone outside of school and it was refreshing. He was so used to going to school, getting his work done, and then drawing for the rest of the night before bed and then the cycle only continued. He gasped when some of Gabriel’s hair tickled his neck, shifting a little only to earn another annoyed groan from Gabriel.

He glanced around the room. He was now able to notice plenty of the details he had missed before due to the bright light filtering through an open window. While his room was messy, it seemed like the sort of untidiness a person would do almost purposely for comfortability reasons. His room was, for the most part, a decent size but with the amount of space his queen-sized bed was taking up, there was little to no walking room. He had one nightstand to the side of the bed that was covered in multiple CDs, a small container of what appeared to be aspirin pills, and a lamp. Besides all of the clothing on the floor, there was an expensive looking medium sized stereo sitting idly in the corner of the room. As Oliver looked around, his eyes never fell on what he had expected to find the most.

Where was Gabriel’s art pieces?

Oliver was well aware of the fact Gabriel had begun to stray away from traditional art into digital, but he also knew he’d never throw away his old sketchbooks. Not to mention the fact that whenever he got the chance, he would assume Gabriel would print out some of his digital sketches and maybe hang them up here or there. He knew Gabriel wasn’t shy and would if anything want to showcase his talent.

“Yo, whatcha looking for?”

Oliver jumped, his eyes flicking to the door in surprise. A male stared back at him with a smirk and holy shit was he tall. The mystery male had tanned skin and softer facial features as well as a small amount of nearly unnoticeable freckles. He had quite noticeable eyes, as they were a nice hazel color that you wouldn’t find on most. He had what seemed to be neck length curly brown hair that was tied back in a short ponytail. His appearance fell somewhere between that of a boyish look and a manlier look. He was wearing a form-fitting white shirt with the words “OMG CHILL” sprawled across them as well as some dark blue skinny jeans. He also wore a red-plaid shirt tied around his waist. He was rather stylish and for a moment, Oliver couldn’t help himself from just staring.

“Don’t you know how to talk?” the male asked, leaning against the door and crossing his arms over his chest.

Before he could say anything, Gabriel moved in his arms. The redhead sat up to stare at the male at the door with a frown. “Get out. No one even said you could come in.”

Despite the order, the male only walked over to Gabriel and ruffled his hair. “Watch how you speak to me shorty.”

Gabriel pushed his hand away with a frown. “Then learn to knock.”

The male only shrugged. “Whatever. I just wanted to meet our mystery guest and last night you didn’t exactly give me the chance to. I planned on waiting until you guys got up, but it’s evening already and your lazy ass is still sleeping. You can’t blame me for wondering if you died in your sleep.”

Gabriel gave him a look of exasperation. “I was driving all day and night. What did you expect?”

“Shut the hell up for a minute, Gabriel.” The male turned to Oliver with a smile. “I’m Wyatt and you are…?”

“Oliver,” he supplied, his face warming as he realized Gabriel was still halfway on top of him. He had no idea if this was how Gabriel typically behaved and therefore was a normalcy around here, but so far Wyatt hadn’t bothered to mention it. And wait a moment, what time did he say it was? “What time is it?”

“It’s around two right now.” Wyatt turned to Gabriel. “Lucas said he’s taking us out for lunch so get the fuck up already and get dressed. He’s letting us decide where or don’t even bother asking.”

Gabriel frowned, reaching up to toss a pillow at Wyatt and his frown deepening when to his dismay, he caught it. He leaned down to rest his head on Oliver’s chest again and closed his eyes. “Get out and tell Lucas I’m not going. You guys can just leave without me.”

“Damn, you’re whiny when you’re tired,” Wyatt murmured under his breath. “Whatever. I’ll make sure to tell Lucas that you were being stubborn and refused to go. That _really_ does suck because that means Oliver will have to stay here with you considering he doesn’t know any of us. What a way to ruin someone’s first day here.”

Oliver sucked in a breath when Gabriel opened his eyes and tilted his head up to stare at him. Geez, he was _way_ too close for comfort. Sensing Gabriel wanted him to say something, he spoke up in a murmur. “It’s fine. I don’t mind staying here with you if you’re really too tired to go.”

Gabriel sighed, looking away from him only to direct his gaze on Wyatt. “Fine, I’ll go. Just give me a minute.”

“We don’t _have_ a minute. Evan and Lucas are already ready and so am I so hurry up.” Wyatt tread his way through the mess on the floor to the door, cursing under his breath when he stepped on something. He turned to glance back at Gabriel with a frown. “Pick your shit up off the floor. This room is a goddamn mess.”

With that said, he was gone. Oliver let out a breath of relief when Gabriel rolled off of his with a huff. Oliver instantly took the chance to get up, fixing the sleeves of his shirt and letting out a soft yawn. Unlike Gabriel, he’d gotten plenty of rest during the car ride and he felt somewhat bad. Maybe he should’ve stayed awake alongside Gabe to keep him company.

Gabriel sat up on the edge of the bed, watching as Oliver fixed himself up a bit. He couldn’t help but notice how often his friend wore turtleneck shirts. Sure, it was chilly outside signaling the approaching winter, but it wasn’t too bad. He was curious, to say the least.

“Why do you always wear turtlenecks? Is that even comfortable for you?” Gabriel questioned. “It’s really not that cold outside. I'm sure you could wear a t-shirt out and still be fine.”

“I’m fine.”

“You can borrow some of my clothes if you want,” Gabriel offered with a small smile.

Oliver shook his head. “I’m fine. Where’s the bathroom?”

“I’ll take you there.” Gabriel waited until Oliver gathered up his bag before taking him by the hand and leading him outside of the room. He moved quickly, not wanting to run into any of his housemates on the way. He knew they could be pushy and quite frankly, somewhat extra, and he didn’t want Oliver to feel uncomfortable. Oliver just wasn’t as extroverted as the rest of them. “You basically just have to go straight from my room and make a bit of a turn and there you are.”

Oliver turned to him with an amused look. “You couldn’t have just told me that?”

“I was feeling generous,” Gabriel excused. He pat Oliver on the shoulder before beginning to walk away. “I’ll be in my room changing if you need anything else.”

Oliver nodded and turned to push the bathroom door open. He closed the door behind him and locked it before setting the bag consisting of his clothing onto the sink. He rummaged through it for a bit searching for something suitable to wear. He’d never thought about how odd it was for him to continuously wear long sleeved shirts until Gabriel brought it up, but he had his reasons. Not to mention he just wasn’t very comfortable wearing shirts that showed off his arms.

He settled for wearing a white button-up shirt along with a light grey jacket and black skinny jeans. There was nothing special about the outfit, but at least it deviated from the norm. He was brushing his teeth when a soft knock sounded at the door. He paused, spit out the toothpaste in his mouth and wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand before turning to the door questioningly.

“Yeah?”

“It’s Lucas. You remember me right?”

Oliver nodded even though the blonde couldn’t see it. “Yes.”

“Would you mind if I came in to get something?”

“No, it’s fine,” Oliver replied as he rinsed off his toothbrush and set it down.

The door opened slowly, Lucas appearing after a few seconds. He softly closed the door behind himself before moving to the cabinet to retrieve something. He smiled down at Oliver.

“I hope Wyatt wasn’t too much of a bother to you guys. I know he has an… interesting way of communicating with people. I wasn’t thinking when I sent him in there to get you guys up. Did you sleep well?”

Oliver thought on that. He had surprisingly slept better than he had in a _long_ time. Who even knew? Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with being with Gabriel; one of the few people he in his life he was completely comfortable being around. He didn’t bother going into detail when he answered. “Yeah, better than most days.”

“That’s good,” Lucas murmured. The blonde put a black bandana along with a small comb in his pocket before turning back to Oliver. “You’re really quiet. Are you always like this or is something wrong? If you’re just nervous being around new people, you shouldn’t be. We’re all pretty laid back.”

Oliver’s gaze fell on his hands, as he couldn’t bring himself to sustain eye contact for too long. “I’m just usually quiet. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Lucas’s head tilted to the side. “Around strangers or just in general?”

“In general, I guess.”

Lucas smiled. “That doesn’t seem to apply to Gabriel. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to balls to do what he did last night. From what I take it, you’ve guys have known each other for some years now, right?”

“Um… yeah,” Oliver answered under his breath. He could feel his face warming in embarrassment and couldn’t help covering the heated skin with one of his hands. He muttered his follow up statement into his hands. “We’ve been friends since fourth grade. I was a new student and socially awkward to the point people thought I just hated them. Gabriel helped me open up a little more…”

“That’s great… You’re lucky to have him as a friend.” Lucas gave him a friendly pat on the back before turning to head for the door. Before exiting, he turned back to Oliver to ask one more question. “Is there any place, in particular, you want to go to for lunch? I rather ask you now than later when everyone’s arguing over what to eat.”

Oliver gave a small smile at the inquiry. “I’m not really picky about food, but I wouldn’t mind going to IHOP for something to eat. I have a taste for pancakes.”

“Great,” Lucas said with a nod and a returned smile. “I hope you’ll be able to warm up to the rest of us during your stay here. You seem like a nice guy.”

Having finished his friendly interrogation, Lucas made his leave, gently shutting the door behind him. Oliver smiled to himself. He could already tell he would like Lucas and he could use a new friend. He finished getting ready before stepping out of the bathroom, making his way back to Gabriel’s room. Before he could get there, however, he bumped into another unfamiliar household member.

The male was surprisingly easy on the eyes despite all of the dark colors he was wearing. The male had raven black hair that was flipped to the side with grey highlights and he wore a pair of black framed glasses. The black piercing in his ear was a nice contrast to his pale skin. His features were soft but his blue eyes were sharp and critical. He wore black skinny jeans, black combat boots, a light grey long-sleeved turtle-neck shirt, as well as a black fedora. He also wore the exact same black bandana Lucas had gotten from the bathroom around his neck.

The male held a black and white cat in his arms but set it down when he bumped into Oliver. He sent Oliver a look.

“The cat isn’t mine. It’s Gabriel’s,” he said as means of explanation before continuing. “You should watch where you’re going.”

Oliver nodded slowly. “Um.. yeah. I apologize.” He didn’t bother mentioning the fact that the other male hadn’t exactly been watching where he was going either.

The mystery male looked him up and down curiously, Oliver shifting when eventually, he began to feel uncomfortable. The male looked him in the eye again after a moment, clearing his throat. “Yeah… I’m sorry, too. No hard feelings. You’re Oliver, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m Evan.” The male smiled awkwardly. “We should be leaving soon, so make sure you’re ready. You look nice, by the way.” That said, Evan made his leave.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conversation you get when you put two of the most awkward human beings on the planet earth, together.”

Oliver couldn't stop himself from frowning at the comment, turning to look at Wyatt with furrowed eyebrows. “What?”

Wyatt shrugged. “Sorry, just practicing this concept called honesty. Anyway, don't judge Evan’s character just yet. He really is a good guy. He just has a hard time opening up to people but I'd think you guys would get along just fine. He’s just encountered some… untrustworthy, for lack of a better word, people in his lifetime.”

Oliver nodded. “Are you guys good friends?”

“Take a wild guess, Sherlock,” Wyatt scoffed. “I'd like to think I'm the asshole’s best friend. Don't tell him I said that though.”

“Why not?”

Wyatt rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Just don't, okay? I think Gabriel’s ready, by the way.”

Oliver watched as Wyatt, too, left the room. He turned his attention to the cat that was now rubbing against his leg, purring softly. He reached down to pick the furry animal up and hurried to Gabriel’s room.

When he got there, he was met with the sight of Gabriel fixing his hair. He stood silent for a moment before asking the question that had been on his mind.

“The cat’s name is Milo, right?”

Gabriel turned to look at him and smiled and white teeth were revealed with the expression. “Yeah… I see you've met him. How'd you know he was mine?”

“Evan told me.” Oliver set the cat down, stroking its fur with a smile. “How old is he?”

“He’s three…” Gabriel answered softly, turning to grab his phone from his nightstand.  “I’m surprised you remember his name. It seems like forever ago since I’ve spoken about him with you, let alone seen you in person. Your memory is amazing.”

Oliver shrugged to himself. “There isn’t much I have to remember except for the occasional test or assignment due. The only birthday I worry about is yours and I don’t talk to anyone except for you, really. You know I’m not close to my family and I’ve never really had any close friends besides you because everyone thought I was antisocial or weird.”

Gabriel’s expression came soft, his next words even more so. “Olive, trust me when I say this. Sure, you didn’t talk to many people in high school so people didn’t really talk to you, but I’m sure most of the people who knew of your existence would have probably killed for you. They didn’t understand you like I did and still do, but they never hated you. People loved you for you.”

“Thanks.” Oliver didn’t necessarily believe his words but he didn’t want to go against his friend. Besides, Gabriel was what one would consider popular in high school and thankfully, it wasn’t because of rumors or drama or even the fact that he played a certain sport. He was well known for all of the good reasons. He was popular because of his kind nature and his ability to get along with anyone. Gabriel probably knew more about people than he ever would.

“I really didn’t want to bring up this question but I think it’s important,” Gabriel whispered, just low enough where Oliver could hear. He stood up from the bed and moved to kneel beside Oliver, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t get upset, okay?”

“I never get upset with you.”

“I know…” Gabriel sighed, but still retained eye contact with Oliver.  He took a deep breath before voicing the question that was on his mind. “Are you really okay now? Please, be honest.”

Oliver’s breath hitched and he felt his face began to warm and more insistently, the pounding of his heart getting a little louder. He really hadn’t anticipated that question and almost didn’t know how to answer it. “Y-yeah… I'm better than before.”

“But that isn't what I asked…”

Oliver opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the sound of Lucas’s voice.

“Guys, sorry to interrupt your conversation but we're about ready to leave out. Gabriel, are you up for walking or should I drive?”

“Um… I think I can walk.”

“Are you sure?”

Gabriel nodded with a thumbs up. “Yeah, I’ll get Wyatt to carry me or something.”

“Alright, we'll be outside waiting for you guys.”

Oliver waited until he heard the blonde’s footsteps become more distant before turning back to his companion with a blank expression. “We should go. If you remember, remind me about it later.”

Gabriel nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay.”

If he was being honest, he just needed some time to think. In all actuality, he could have answered the question with a single word; yes, or no. He was just glad Gabriel was considerate enough not to bring that up and to grant him some time consider his answer.

_~Am I okay…?~_

* * *

 

 

“You guys about ready to go?”

“Wait, where are we going?”

Lucas paused with a brief moment of realization. He turned to the male who had voiced the question, Wyatt, with a calculating expression. “I decided we’re going to IHOP.”

“What? Why?” Evan asked with furrowed eyebrows. “We didn’t even discuss anything yet.”

Lucas pointed over to Oliver who was standing to the side of Gabriel and whispering something in his ear. Lucas rose an eyebrow. “I asked him about it earlier and he said he was in the mood for some pancakes. Besides, we’ve all been just about everywhere so I think it’d be nice to treat our guest to wherever he wants to go on his first day here. Any objections?”

“Actually, there is one in this court,” Wyatt spoke, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes narrowed in challenge. “I have a feeling the only reason you’re so uppity about this whole idea is because _you_ want pancakes. That’s all you _ever_ want. I mean seriously, don’t you ever get tired of eating fucking dough covered in syrup?”

“And all you ever want is Chinese food,” Lucas pointed out, “and I don’t think anybody here is in favor of that so I don’t see the point in you going against this at all. And to answer your initial question, no I don’t.”

Wyatt sighed under his breath, his gaze meeting the ground in defeat. “Whatever. So everyone agrees with IHOP?”

After some nods and a couple of idle answers of “sure” or “yes”, the group was on their way to the restaurant. It wasn’t all that close but it wasn’t far either. They had all agreed the distance didn’t bother them anyway and besides, none of them were a fan of driving in the first place. Some of them talked amongst one another while some remained silent but either way, the walk was peaceful.

* * *

 

 

Dakota sprinted into the small kitchen with a toothy-grin, her eyes seeming to twinkle with excitement. She tapped on a taller woman’s shoulder enthusiastically.

“Jase! I found some really really exciting news in the school paper! I swear you’ll want to see,” she practically squealed.

Jase, her closest friend to date, set her mug of presumable tea down on the marble counter. She gave Dakota a stare that made it seem as if she thought she was crazy. She was a young adult just one year her elder with short black hair styled in a pixie cut, dark brown eyes, and chocolate brown skin. She was tall and lean, her face longer than it was wide. She had what one would call an “emo” style of dressing. Her makeup was done dark: thin but sleek eyeliner, light black eyeshadow, and black lipstick leaving her with a shady and mysterious appearance. She dressed in looser and darker clothing, currently clothed in grey joggers along with a black tank top.

She usually wore a ton of piercings in each of her ears and a black and white striped choker, but it seemed she didn’t bother with accessories that day.

Dakota pushed a battered newspaper on the counter in front of Jase, pointing to the bottom of the slightly torn page. “Read it and tell me what you think.”

The other female’s eyes scrolled along the page quickly, only taking half a minute to read the short announcement. Jase smiled at the page and leaned up to meet Dakota’s gaze again. “An art contest, huh?”

“Isn’t it cool?” Dakota asked with eyes that were slightly wider than usual. “We have a week to apply for it and the actual contest would start next Monday. We could do it, don’t you think?”

“We make one hell of a team,” Jase agreed with a nod and a smirk. “Plus, that’s a hell of a lot of money. With that, we could move out of this crap apartment and move somewhere maybe even a _little_ bit nicer.”

“I don’t think it’s too bad here.”

Jase leaned against the counter with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You could easily think that if you aren’t the one paying for it. You really need to pitch in and get a job soon. It’s hard enough for Elliot and I to pull through with the rent.”

Dakota waved it off but her expression twisted into one of guilt. “I’m trying. You guys make getting a job seem like the easiest thing in the world. I’m not good at much and you guys know this.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel bad about yourself, but Elliot has come from a rough place and she still manages. She has no advantages working for her unlike you, Dakota.”

“When’s Elliot getting off of work anyway?” Dakota asked absently. An obvious attempt at changing the subject, but it succeeded.

“Half-past three,” Jase huffed out. She reached out of ruffle Dakota’s hair with thin, long fingers. “We can talk about this more when Elliot’s off and we all have the time. I should be getting ready myself, anyway.”

Dakota nodded and watched as Jase walked out of the cramped kitchen and made her way to her room. When she heard the door shut, she let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. The contest was a chance that she was sure would bring her closer to her dream…or further.

It was a scary risk but she was willing to take it.

* * *

 

 

Wyatt took a strawberry from the top of one of his crepes and launched it across the table. He rolled his eyes when Lucas managed to catch it in his mouth, smiling at him triumphantly.

“You still suck.”

Lucas rolled his eyes, waving the comment off. “Whatever, sure.”

Wyatt smirked. “Dick, to be exact.”

Lucas laughed, his face warming slightly as he ran a hand through his blonde hair idly. “Why are you still so upset? I’m the one paying for this whole meal so if you don’t want it, it’s not like you’re wasting your own money.”

“And it’s not like you’re wasting yours, either,” Wyatt said, taking a bite of his meal and chewing before continuing. “This whole meal is being paid for with your parents' money.”

Lucas chuckled under his breath. “If only you could prove that.”

“It doesn’t matter where the money’s coming from, he’s still the one paying for it,” Gabriel pointed out. He sat in the middle between Lucas and Oliver and he couldn’t help himself for stealing some of either male’s food every now and then. “And he’s paying the rent basically all by himself so I wouldn’t complain.”

Oliver listened in silently as his four companions bantered, for the most part not bothering to contribute anything to the conversation. He opened his mouth to get out one statement of clarification. “I really wouldn’t have minded going somewhere else to eat. I’m not picky.”

“Really? Because you haven’t eaten much yourself,” Wyatt commented, nodding towards his plate of currently half eaten food.

“I'm a slow eater,” Oliver excused.

Gabriel tossed a fry across the table at Wyatt, laughing when it hit him in the nose. “Leave Oliver alone and stop acting so flippant. Like seriously, keep the salt in the ocean.”

“Well you don’t seem as irritable as you were earlier,” Evan pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Gabriel. “Wyatt told me you were, and I quote, acting like a little bitch when he tried to get you up.”

Gabriel frowned when Wyatt began to snicker. “Seriously?”

“That isn’t what I said,” Wyatt pushed out, fighting to contain his laughter behind a hand.

“Oh, really?”

“I said,” Wyatt started with a smug smile, “and I quote, that you were acting like a little _whiny_ bitch when I tried to get you up.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot about that part.” Evan chuckled, looking at Wyatt with mirth in his eyes. Gabriel only rolled his eyes, seeming to be keen on possibly ignoring the two of them for the rest of the day. He waited until he calmed down a bit before asking the question he’d been too scared to ask before. “Oliver, if you don’t mind me asking, why is your hair so long?”

Oliver paused and tensed slightly when he felt Gabriel pat him on the shoulder before gripping it encouragingly. His answer was swift but only a part of the truth.

“I never bothered with getting it cut so it grew out and relatively fast.”

Evan nodded, his eyes roaming over Oliver’s face again in search of what, Oliver didn’t know. “Yeah, it suits you, though. I like it, I’ve just never seen a guy with as long of hair as yours.”

Oliver smiled slightly though he wasn’t sure if Evan even noticed. He seemed like the type to pay close attention to his surroundings as if expecting the worst and preparing himself for hurt. There was no doubt that he only sought to protect himself from heartache just like Oliver but unlike Oliver, he was still so open. So willing to share his own story. As much as he felt like he understood him, he began to feel uncomfortable under his gaze. It felt like the other male’s icy blue eyes could see everything; unraveling some of Oliver darkest thoughts and his worst memories and putting it on display for others to see.

He exhaled deeply when Evan’s gaze finally traveled elsewhere, leaving him with time to think. In all actuality, there was a multitude of reasons why his hair had grown to be so long. As Gabriel already knew, Oliver hadn’t grown up in the best household. His relationship with his mother was average, to say the least, but he didn’t get along with his father at all. He never had. Throughout his childhood, the only happiness his father had gained from him when he was bringing him down. His family was what most would consider poor, struggling to put clothes on Oliver’s back and food on the table. They never had the money to professionally get his hair cut and they weren’t dedicated enough to do it themselves. It wasn’t as if his family would have tried to help him anyway. For a reason still unknown to Oliver, his father hated him. The worst part was for the longest time, it hadn’t bothered Oliver.

He had thought it to be normal.

As he got older, Oliver began to become greedy. Greedy for recognition or love. He starved for just one phrase.

_“I’m so proud of you, son.”_

If he was being honest, he still craved for it. He wanted to prove that he was more than a mat to walk over, that one day he could change the lives of millions. That’s where art came into the picture.

“Olive, you okay?”

Oliver turned to look at Gabriel with a gasp. He blinked before nodding dumbfoundedly.  “Yeah… sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

Gabriel scanned his eyes for a sign of vulnerability, a hint at just _what_ Oliver was thinking because he knew his friend would never tell him himself. After some seconds, Gabriel just nodded with a small smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. He whispered his next words under his breath. “I’m here if you want to talk and I’ll always listen to every word or thought.”

Oliver flushed, looking down at his plate of now cold pancakes and once again just listening as conversation started up again at the table. He whispered to Gabriel, too, but so quiet he wasn’t sure if he even heard.

“I know.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Shit… these fuckers are cheating!”

“Elliot, it’s not that deep. Now can you please be quiet so I can finish my work?”

Elliot paused the game and stood, walking over to stand behind Jase. She leaned over Jase's shoulder to look at her computer screen. "You have an essay due?"

"Yes, and my grade's already low in this class so I need to get this done, and I need to get it done correctly. I can't do that with you screaming bloody murder at strangers on a video game," Jase grumbled, briefly turning her gaze away from her computer screen to look up at Elliot.

Elliot shrugged. "The game's rigged."

"Or maybe you just suck at it."

"I just got the damn game," Elliot pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "Why are you rushing to finish your essay so soon, anyway? You have all of winter break to do it."

"I'll explain later."

"Fine."

Elliot went back over to her game system to shut it off along with the television before making her way to her room. Well, their room. In such a small apartment, it was unlikely there'd be even two rooms. It was crowded but honestly, Elliot didn't mind it. It lent a sense of comfortability and closeness with her housemates. She moved to gather a change of clothes before lazily making her way to the bathroom to prepare for a warm shower.

"Jase, where's Dakota?" Elliot called from outside the bathroom, her hand resting on the handle of the door as she waited for an answer.

"I don't know. Maybe she's out at the mall with some friends...? She just left out suddenly and said she'd be back later tonight."

"Think she's with her boyfriend?"

"I doubt it," Jase replied with a scoff. "They hardly talk nowadays. I don't understand why they won't just break up. Dakota says she wants to, but she's too scared she'll hurt his feelings."

Elliot shook her head. "Typical Dakota."

She finally entered the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She quickly removed her clothing from her body before turning on the faucet to the tub and watching as it filled. She usually favored showers more than baths, but at that moment she just wanted to rest.

She examined herself in the mirror as she pulled her mint green dyed hair in a quick high ponytail, the color of the strands very alike to the color of her eyes; greenish-blue. Her figure was average but the ink that adored her body was quite the opposite. She had a sleeve on both of her arms and even some of her thighs leading up to her more intimate parts. She knew most guys wouldn't find it attractive but couldn't find it in herself to give a shit. She liked it and that was all that mattered.

Only as she settled down in the lukewarm water, letting the liquid hug her like a warm blanket all over her body, and leaned her head back against the wall of the tub, did she feel calm and relaxed.

* * *

Evan rubbed at his forehead with a sigh as his eyes roamed over his computer screen. He moved the mouse to hover over a small tab that read the words "word count". As he read the number, he felt his face warm with irritation and a hint of anger.

"Four thousand three hundred eighty-five words," he murmured to himself with the most obnoxiously loud sigh he'd ever heard from his own lips. 

He had an essay due and he was not even halfway to the required word count his professor had assigned. Well, actually, scratch that. He had an essay that was overdue, to be exact. His teacher had only granted him more time due to some sad lie he'd made up in the heat of the moment. Time was running out, the essay due that midnight, and he knew there was no way he'd ever finish on time.

"Lucas!" Evan called from his bedroom, thrumming his fingers against his desk impatiently. "Can you come here for a minute?"

It took a while, but eventually, a certain platinum blonde head of hair poked through his door. "What do you want?"

"Do you have time? I need help with this essay."

"Isn't it due at the end of the break?"

Evan scoffed. "I wish. It's due on the fifth of December."

Lucas finally walked all the way into the room and shut the door behind himself. "The fifth of December was days ago..."

"Exactly."

Lucas shook his head with a grin, seating himself on Evan's bed. "Give me the details and I'll think about it."

Evan nodded, twisting around in his seat to stare his friend in the eye. "Okay. So first of all, my professor is a complete fucking dick. I've never had a teacher who's assigned anymore than three thousand words on a paper, let alone made it due three days later. I have a life and I would think he does, too. Who even wants to read all that shit?"

Lucas laughed. "Alright, continue."

"The topic is fucking stupid and doesn't require ten thousand words to explain. He-"

"Wait," Lucas interrupted. "What's the topic?"

"Police brutality," Evan explained, "It's an argumentative essay. He said he wanted to hear our views on it, basically whether it's actually a thing or not."

"Well, obviously it is..."

Evan nodded. "Exactly. I just don't think it's a topic worth dishing out. Just because two, five, or even a hundred police officers are dumbasses doesn't mean the rest of them are, too."

"Then why don't you write that," Lucas asked, nodding toward his computer screen.

"That's the thing, blonde. How do I take that thought and make it ten thousand words? That's bullshit."

Lucas sat there silently for a few seconds. Those few seconds felt like hours to Evan who was already contemplating ripping the hair out of his head. When Lucas finally spoke, however, Evan's eyes became uncharacteristically wide. 

"Alright. I'll finish your essay for you."

Evan paused. "Finish? You don't have to, I only needed some guidance."

"So you don't want me to finish it for you?" Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't mind it..."

"Then I'll do it." Lucas shrugged, "I have nothing better to do anyway and I'm bored. Gabriel is entering us into the contest today, by the way. He has all the details so he said he'll explain them to us later tonight."

"Cool..." Evan stared at Lucas, still utterly surprised. "You must have a pretty sad life to be willing to do someone else's work. Do you even have any idea how far behind I am?"

"It's no big deal. You're like my younger brother and seeing you all stressed out bothers me."

"I'm twenty-two," Evan pointed out, standing so Lucas could take his spot in the chair. "Only one year younger than you."

"Yeah, well, you remind me of my little brother."

Evan rolled his eyes, patting Lucas on the back. "Whatever. Thanks, bro."

"You owe me."

Evan smiled. "Of course."

* * *

 

"Yo, let's play a game."

Oliver looked over to Wyatt, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He was originally messing around on his phone, but he guessed he probably had grown bored. Extremely bored, for that matter, to be seeking conversation from Oliver. Well, at least that's what Oliver thought. Gabriel was in the room as well but he was busy looking over the details for the contest.

Oliver shrugged after thinking for a few more seconds. He had nothing better to do himself and all day he'd just been lazing around and talking to Gabriel. A game couldn't hurt. "Sure, jigsaw. As long as it doesn't involve murder..."

Wyatt let out a laugh. "Good one. I didn't think you had jokes."

"What game?"

"Let's play "Never have I ever"," Wyatt suggested with a grin. "It's a good getting-to-know-you-game. Not to mention it's one of the funniest and sometimes embarrassing games we ever play around here. You up for it?"

Gabriel twisted around in his seat at the table to glare at Wyatt. "Don't be a jerk."

"Don't be a mood killer. He hasn't even agreed yet and you have no idea what questions I'll ask."

"Yes, I do," Gabriel replied with a roll of his eyes. "You and Evan are always using this game as an opportunity to get every single secret out of someone and you're always taking shots below the belt."

"Isn't that the point?"

Gabriel stared long and hard at Wyatt in irritation and defeat. "Fine, but I'm joining in as soon as I'm done."

"Suit yourself." Wyatt turned back to Oliver with a smile. A smile that suddenly made Oliver nervous. "Don't listen to Gabriel. You're still practically a stranger to me so I'll play nice."

Oliver was about to answer when he was interrupted again. 

"What are you guys up to?" Evan questioned as he moved to sit on the couch next to Oliver. "I heard my name."

"Oh, goody..." Oliver heard Gabriel murmured under his breath.

"We're playing "Never Have I Ever", wanna join?" Wyatt asked with a smirk. An all too knowing smirk that only grew when Evan nodded yes. "Well, at least I hope we are but you guys won't give Oliver a chance to answer. What's it gonna be?"

Oliver let go of a breathy sigh. Try as hard as they might, but they would never be able to get something embarrassing out of him. He couldn't think of anything he'd ever done in his life that was shameful, let alone weird.

"What the hell, sure."

"I'll let you start, then."

Oliver thought for a moment before voicing the first thought that came to mind. "Never have I ever gotten into a fight."

He watched as both Evan and Wyatt stared at him with wide eyes.

"What the fuck? How?" Wyatt asked like it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard. "When I was in high school, I was always in fights and half of the time it wasn't my fault."

Evan scoffed. "Said literally everyone ever. I've only been in two or three fights and that's because people are dicks and sometimes, they need a good ass-kicking to help them break the habit. Take Wyatt for example."

"Well, fuck you too, then."

Oliver laughed a bit. "I was a loner; never had a reason to fight anyone."

Evan hummed. "That's good... kinda. I'll go next. Never have I ever gotten into a physical fight with immediate family members."

Wyatt raised his hand. "I have."

"With who?" Oliver questioned curiously.

"My older brother. He was a douchebag, though. He always thought he was better than everyone and was always talking down to my dad, which is exactly why his ass was kicked out."

Evan raised an eyebrow. "I half expected you to say your mom. I don't think a day goes by where you don't have some shit to say about her."

"She's a bitch, too, but I'd never hit her. I don't hit women, let alone women who have at least tried their best to raise me."

Evan nodded in understanding. "I don't envy being a mother. From what I've heard, it's one of the hardest jobs to manage."

"Alright, moving on. Never have I ever cursed out a teacher."

"Oh," Evan laughed, "I've done that plenty of times. I'm sure we've all had that one asshole teacher that clearly didn't like kids and yet decided to become a teacher, anyway. What the actual fuck is up with those people?"

"I've heard for a lot of people becoming a teacher is plan D," Oliver shared. "It's weird but I guess I get it. It brings in money."

"What money, though?" Evan pointed out. "It's no secret that teachers are underpaid. If you hate children and have run out of other options, don't become a teacher. Become a fucking Burger King employee or some shit."

Wyatt tried but failed miserably at holding back his laughter. "You sound so fucking emotional. What, is this all personal feelings you've been keeping bottled up for years?"

"So what if it is," Evan murmured. "It's your turn, Oliver."

"Never have I ever skipped class." As soon as the words left his mouth, he was sure Evan and Wyatt were going to have another freak out session over it. Honestly, what could he say? He was never wild in any way, shape, or form, and he'd always been a good student and not to mention a responsible teenager.

Evan whistled, his eyes blown wide in surprise. "Impressive."

"Dude, in my junior year of high school, I barely ever stepped foot in class. One of my closest friends had a car and we'd sneak out every day around lunchtime and he'd drop us off at home whenever we finished doing whatever."

Evan shook his head in feigned disapproval. "No wonder your mom is always yelling at your ass."

"Well, what about you?" Wyatt challenged.  "What's your story then?"

"I would leave school by myself at lunchtime to grab something edible to eat and I'd be right back in school after. I've never been caught once."

Wyatt's eyes narrowed. "Did you have a friend with a car?"

"I wish..."

"Then that shit doesn't count. Trust me, if you could've, you would've."

Evan chuckled turning to Oliver and throwing an arm around his shoulders. If he saw him flinch, he certainly didn't mention it. "Seems to me like your life has been full of nothing but good decisions and I can't decide if that's a good thing or not. What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

"Nothing noteworthy."

"Dude, honestly, I'm starting to think you're lying about something," Wyatt murmured with skeptical eyes. He ran a hand through his hair, consequently pulling a few strands loose from his ponytail. "Or maybe you're life really is that boring."

"Okay," Evan spoke up, aiming to shift the attention away from Oliver before Wyatt could make him uncomfortable, "never have I ever had sex in a public place."

The room was silent for a few seconds, Evan staring at Wyatt expectantly and frowning when he never spoke up. Even Gabriel turned around from his laptop after a moment. 

"You're such a liar..."

Wyatt rose an eyebrow. "And can you prove that?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Evan asked, folding his arms over his chest almost defiantly. "I don't think there's a single person on the planet Earth that would buy that."

Gabriel scoffed. "No joke."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Fuck you guys. I've had plenty of sex in my lifetime but never in a public setting. The lingering thought of getting caught would ruin the whole thing for me."

"Bull. Shit." Evan leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs and his chin in his hands. "You love sex and I can hardly picture you going soft at the thought of someone catching you. If anything, I feel like that'd turn you on more."

"Evan, have I ever told you any story that involved me fucking in public? Even just one?"

"That doesn't mean anything. There's probably a whole lot of shit you don't tell me."

"I tell you practically everything." Wyatt sighed, "You guys make me seem like a fucking horndog."

Gabriel laughed from his seat. "Is that not what you are?"

"Fuck you tomato head."

Evan directed his gaze to Oliver. "What about you?"

Gabriel scoffed answering for Oliver before he could get the chance. "Of course he hasn't. He isn't perverted like you guys; nowhere near it."

"I know your dick-sucking ass isn't talking..." Wyatt murmured under his breath.

Gabriel chose to ignore the comment. "I don't know why I was worried about him playing this game with you guys, anyway. He hasn't done anything to be worried over."

Wyatt stared at Gabriel, then at Oliver, and right back to Gabriel. "Are you guys fucking or what? I've been wondering but there was never an appropriate time to ask."

Oliver flushed bright red, glancing at Gabriel only to quickly look away when they unintentionally made eye contact. He cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Of course not. What gave you that idea?"

"I don't know. You guys just seem overly close to just be friends."

Gabriel rubbed at his forehead in irritation. "Are you and Evan having sex?"

"Look," Evan started, covering his face with the palm of his hand once he felt the skin beginning to warm dramatically, "I have nothing to do with this change in conversation so leave me out of it."

"Oh, I don't know. I was just wondering because you guys seem overly close to just be friends," Gabriel mimicked, aiming a pointed glare Wyatt's way.

"That's different."

"How?"

Wyatt sighed in defeat. "Fine. Let's continue-"

"Actually," Gabriel interrupted. "I need you guys to come over here to fill out something. Where's Lucas at?"

"He's in my room," Evan answered. "I'll go get him."

The males watched in silence as Evan went to retrieve their housemate and moved to crowd around Gabriel so they could all see his laptop screen. 

Oliver was quick to notice Wyatt was staring at him and was quick to comment on it, as it was beginning to make him uncomfortable. "What?"

Wyatt frowned. "Are you a virgin, Oliver? I'm sorry, I'm just curious as hell."

Oliver nodded, his eyes falling elsewhere. "Yeah."

"Wow..." Wyatt pushed out on a breath of exasperation. "Are you gay?"

"Guys," Gabriel said, his voice raised slightly and his tone stern. "This is important. We need to get this done before we run out of time."

Wyatt nodded and cupped Gabriel's shoulder comfortingly, chewing his bottom lip unconsciously. "Alright, Gabe. What'd you need?"

"Olive, can you come here?" Gabriel asked. 

Even though he asked, his tone didn't leave any room for Oliver to have an actual choice. He seemed tense or maybe just slightly irritated. Even Wyatt seemed to catch onto that, toning himself done and seemingly trying to calm Gabriel down. He wasn't one to get angry often and Oliver had no idea what or who he was mad at but there was one thing for sure.

He didn't like seeing his friend upset.

Oliver moved to stand to the right of Gabriel, kneeling down next to him. He exhaled deeply when Gabriel's arms curled around his waist, his thumb rubbing circles into the area. Now that he thought about it, Gabriel was probably upset for him. 

A few seconds later, Lucas entered the room with Evan trailing behind him. When Lucas saw Gabriel he froze up for a second before turning to Wyatt, an eyebrow raised.

"What the hell did you do to him?"

"He'd didn't do anything..." Gabriel murmured. "I need you over here so we can fill some of these questions out. 

Lucas exchanged a look with Evan, biting at his lower lip before managing a soft, “okay.”

The men worked at filling out the application for together, though the air was tense. If someone talked, it was only to ask or answer a question. It unnerved Oliver. How the atmosphere could go from being full of mirth to gloominess, he didn’t all. All he knew was he didn’t like the change at all. Honesty, at this point he was starting to rethink his decision to stay with them entirely. It didn’t seem like they wanted him there, maybe except Lucas, and he already had a hard enough time communicating with people as it is. Maybe this wasn’t his brighter idea?

Either way, he was already here so complaining wouldn’t get him anywhere. Besides, he’d only just gotten there three days ago. Maybe the tension will eventually be put at ease and things will get better? He could only hope.

As soon as they all finished, they went their separate ways besides Gabriel and Oliver. Oliver chose to remain silent as Gabriel tugged him along to his room, only letting go of his sure-to-bruise arm once he shut the door behind them. For a few seconds that honestly felt like minutes, they just stared at one another, both of them waiting for the other to say something. Oliver wasn’t left waiting for long, Gabriel eventually speaking up in a murmur.

The redhead crossed his arms over his chest with a deep sigh, his gaze trained on the floor. He looked back up to stare into Oliver’s eyes only to look away again with a clear of his throat before saying, “I’m sorry about Wyatt… He means nothing by what he says. He just says things and half of the time, I wonder if he even thinks about the words that come out of his mouth. He probably doesn’t…”

“It’s fine-” Oliver began to say but was quickly interrupted. The sudden change of Gabriel’s tone made him flinch, tensing at his next words.

“It isn’t okay, Oliver. You can’t keep pretending as if everything's okay!” Gabriel shouted, now pacing back and forth, making wild hand gestures with each word as if it were somehow validating his point. “You know when we first met and I asked you how you were doing and you said, “fine”? I was dumb enough to believe that and a month later, I learned you weren’t  _ fine _ ! It isn’t a sin to ask for help if you need it-”

“I don’t need help,” Oliver managed to say firmly, his mouth twisting in a frown. “Did you ever consider that? You brought up when we first met and that’s fine, but how long ago was the day we first met?”

“That doesn’t matter-”

“ _ Years _ ago! So maybe I wasn’t okay then and was too afraid to admit it. Maybe you did have to find that out the hard way, but that was  _ years _ ago. I already apologized for it and when I say I’m sorry, I truly mean it, but I’m older now. I know you better and I know I can trust you, so why would I lie?”

“I wasn’t saying-”

“And why don’t you trust me?” Oliver’s voice cracked a little while voicing the question, and he rubbed at his throat with a wince. He very rarely raised his voice and the fact that he had surprised him. 

He couldn’t help it. Who could really blame him for getting defensive about his past? He didn’t exactly enjoy having his past struggles brought up by  _ anyone _ , no matter who they are or how close he is with that person. Who would? What would bringing up past dirt do to help anyone? Isn’t the point of improving yourself so you could forget about that sort of thing? Why dwell on your failures when you can think about your successes and imagine your future? That was Oliver’s way of thinking, anyway.

“This has nothing to do with whether or not I trust you, Olive…” Gabriel whispered, once again refusing to make any sort of eye contact with the male in front of him. “I just… I don’t know if you’re telling the truth and that scares me. I don’t know if your hiding things from me or even shielding the truth from yourself. That  _ scares  _ me, Olive, and you’re not the most open person to begin with, so I don’t know what to do…”

Oliver threw his arms around Gabriel and sighed he felt the male’s arms encircle his waist. “Just trust me when I say I’m okay…”

“Okay,” Gabriel murmured with a nod, holding onto Oliver tighter. “You’re okay…”


	4. Chapter 4

The boys met up on campus as soon as Monday, the beginning of the competition, rolled around. They each stood outside the door of a moderately sized building. It was one of the largest art buildings on campus. All but Oliver attended class at the building so it was familiar but somehow standing in front of the building gave off a different aura than usual. It felt different to be there, more nerve-wracking than anything. Nevertheless, they waited outside for their instructor to show as they had been assigned to do.

Oliver watched as Lucas and Evan whispered to one another. He turned to look at Gabriel, frowning when he averted his gaze elsewhere. Ever since their talk the evening prior, Gabriel had been quiet around him, only talking when he absolutely had to. Sharing a bed couldn’t have been more awkward that night. They had both slept on opposite sides facing away from each other and as much as Oliver hated to admit it, it bothered him. He had a hard time getting any rest that night.

He hadn’t asked Gabriel about it. If Gabriel suddenly wanted his space for a while, then that’s fine. Or so, Oliver tried to convince himself. He wanted to know what the hell was wrong but couldn’t work up the courage to actually ask. Did his outburst somehow upset Gabe? Maybe he was still upset at Wyatt or maybe he just felt uncomfortable? But if that were the case, why would he be uncomfortable?

Holy hell, he was so confused…

“Yo, quit thinking so hard,” Wyatt muttered, his back leaned against the brick building and his eyes falling shut. He let out a slight shiver when a gust of wind blew by. “Shit, I didn’t think it’d be so chilly outside… Where are these assholes, anyway?”

“They should be here soon,” Gabriel whispered, rubbing at his own arms absently.

“And don’t call our instructors assholes,” Evan retorted with a roll of his eyes before going back to speaking with Lucas.

Oliver’s gaze settled on Gabriel again and right before any words could leave his mouth, he was interrupted by an unfamiliar female voice. He turned toward the sound, his eyebrows raising in question at the sight of three girls with their own uniquely different styles walking toward him.

“Are you guys here for the art competition?”  
Before Oliver could answer, Wyatt did it for him.

“No,” he answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “We’re standing here in the fucking cold, in _front_ of the art building, because we’ve always wanted to become human icicles and why the hell not?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Real fucking mature. It isn’t even that cold outside so man the hell up and stop acting like a bratty asshole.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Evan asked with narrowed eyes. “Hop off my friend's dick and find someone else to fuck with.”

“I’m Elliot,” the girl answered, not at all threatened by the glare Evan was sending her or the tone of his voice. “And let’s not pretend that your little boytoy didn’t start this shit. All I did was ask a damn question.”

“Excuse her,” the tallest girl of the group murmured. “I’m Jase. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. We’re also obviously entering the competition so I look forward to seeing what you guys have to bring.”

Wyatt scoffed. “A lot more than you guys ever will.”

Jase raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Is that so? That’s mighty bold of you to say.”

“Yeah, well-”

“Wyatt, quit talking,” Gabriel spoke up, rubbing at his forehead with a frown. “Your voice is giving me a headache.” Turning to look up at the group of girls in front of them, he finished by saying, “and I would appreciate it if you guys would leave us alone for now. We can get introductions out of the way later. No hard feelings, or anything.”

Elliot shrugged. “Whatever.”

The group of them walked a little ways away to give the boys their privacy and Oliver could honestly say he appreciated it. He tapped Gabriel’s shoulder, giving him a small unsure smile when he finally turned to look his way.

“Are you okay? You seem kinda upset.”

“It’s nothing,” Gabriel answered, returning a smile even if his own looked a lot more forced. “I’m just kinda tired. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night.”

He did? Was it possibly for the same reason Oliver hadn’t gotten his rest? No, realistically, it probably had more to do with the art competition starting the next day. Gabriel had been the most excited out of all of them. Hell, he’d been the one to convince them all to enter in the first place.

Oliver tensed, his face warming when Gabriel pulled him against his side to rest his head on Oliver’s shoulder. He was torn between attempting to get closer or pulling out of his grip. It wasn’t necessarily anything to do with Gabriel. He just generally didn’t like being so close to people, though he could surely admit Gabriel was usually an exception to that rule. Unsure of what to do, he just stood there. Well, on the plus side he felt a lot warmer than he had previously and it seemed Gabriel felt the same judging by the content sigh he let out.

“My mood has nothing to do with you, if that’s what you were worried about,” Gabriel tried to reassure. “If anything, you’re usually my mood maker of the day…”

Oliver gave a slight smirk, glancing at his friend from the corner of his eye. “Well isn’t that nice to know…”

“I like that facial expression on you,” Gabriel chuckled, his eyes fond. That quickly had Oliver’s sudden burst of confidence dispersing and his face once again, to his own dismay, heating up.

His embarrassment was only made worse when a group of four young men made their way towards them. One of the men, noticeably the tallest of the group, briefly looked over Oliver and Gabriel before smirking and making a snarky remark.

“Dude, nobody wants to see two grown men rubbing up against each other. Can you guys do that shit somewhere else? We’re here to wait for our instructors and we don’t want to bear witness to that shit.”

Oliver unconsciously tried to pull away from Gabriel a bit but the arm around his waist kept him grounded in place. His eyes couldn’t stop themselves from searching Gabriel’s face for any hurt or annoyance. He seemed unbothered, even more so when he smiled down at Oliver with a whisper of the words, “it’s okay”. His mind couldn’t decide whether to be surprised or not. On one hand, this couldn’t have been the first time Gabriel had had to deal with this sort of thing but on the other, no one should have to deal with this shit _period_. This sort of hate is difficult to get used to and no one should ever have to in the first place.

Evan was the first to turn around and it was with the fiercest glare Oliver had ever seen. “Who the fuck are you and who the hell lied to you when they told you your opinion was needed here?”

Okay, so maybe that was a lie. Wyatt’s glare was somehow worse. “Yeah, seriously, asshole. No one here is in the mood to deal with your bullshit. None of us even know your stupid ass, nor care what the fuck you want to see, so could you leave? Go be an attention whore somewhere else. Either that or shut the fuck up and deal with, god forbid, two good friends being friends.”

Lucas chuckled. “Well, my buddies here said everything that needed to be said.”

The male only let out a laugh, looking between the group of friends with a smug look. “Okay, now I’m confused. Who's fucking who?”

“I can explain with my foot up your ass-”

“Men, don’t get disqualified before the competition even starts.”

Everyone turned to look at the very familiar art professor, Mr. Hill followed by another petite looking lady with green eyes and short ginger hair. Mostly everyone stopped all their conversing right there but Wyatt, being Wyatt, instead tried to explain the situation with his oh-so-colorful language.

“It’s already cold as balls out here and if that weren’t already enough, this asshole is pushing my patience with his fucking ignorance.” He pointed to Elliot, “And that bitch-”

Elliot’s eyebrows rose, “Excuse me, dickbag?”

Wyatt crossed his arms over his chest in challenge. “You’re excused, bitch.”

“Wyatt, watch your language,” Mr. Hill murmured, giving his shoulder a reprimanding push even as he smiled in amusement. “And don’t call women that…”

Wyatt shook his head in annoyance, pointing at the male who had managed to refuel his already impending anger. “What about this douchebag?”

“Emilio, stop annoying everyone around you. It got old months ago,” Mr. Hill murmured absently as he retrieved his keys from his pockets before unlocking the door and letting the group of young adults into the building.

“Mr. Hill gives Wyatt all the special privileges,” Gabriel explained from somewhere behind Oliver as they followed after their professor. “He knows his family. If that were anyone else, I don’t think he’d let the cursing slide. He’s a pretty cool guy though; probably one of my favorite professors ever.”

Oliver nodded absently, taking in their surroundings. There were paintings on every wall, presumably created by the students who took classes there. It was amazing, the amount of diversity that could be found in the hallways alone. The painting ranged from pastel colors to neutral, from smooth textures to rough… The all held different uses of space, form, pattern, structure, and rhythm; it was amazing. He liked this art building. The art building at his own school was nowhere near as grand. As he stepped into Mr.Hill’s room, he looked around at all the things he’d been missing out on.

There was a large easel in the middle of the room and the multiple different art stations were set up in a radial balance around it. Towards the back of the room, there was a large three-dimensional painting of the word love and on the surrounding walls, just as there had been in the hallways, were a multitude of paintings as well. There was a flower, painted in mostly warm colors, that began in the center of the room and stretched out to the ends. If Oliver could describe the room in one word, it would be…

“Amazing…”

Gabriel let out a soft laugh. “So I guess I don’t have to ask whether or not you like it…”

Oliver turned back to stare at him with a look of disbelief. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Gabriel only responded with a grin which Oliver rolled his eyes at.

“Each team needs to pick their own workstation so I can explain what’s going on,” Mr. Hill announced from his spot in the middle of the room.

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone was scurrying in their own directions. Evan ended up leading their group to a station towards the back of the room where they could almost see everything without having to turn to look. Sooner than later, each station was occupied with groups of people; some groups as small as two and one group as large as seven.

“We can see everything from here,” Evan excused before anyone could question him about his choice. He reached out to graze his hands across the art supplies in front of him. “These are expensive as hell…”

“Yeah, I can’t believe he’d let a bunch of idiot college students use them just so they can mess them up. Almost seems like a waste,” Lucas whispered.

“Please refrain from touching the equipment,” Mr. Hill instructed, his voice raised slightly so it could carry above the noise. “Once everyone is quiet I can give directions and it would be best to listen because I won’t repeat them.”

It took some time but eventually, the noise levels died down.

“Alright.” He clasped his hands together. “Today, you are here because you signed up for an art competition with the promised prize of a quarter of a million dollars. Granted, majority of that money will go toward increasing the number of fine arts classes throughout schools but as it stands, I still think the offer is quite generous and can go a long way for college students like yourselves. While I do expect the prize to motivate you, I hope at least some of you are here due to your passion for art. With that said, there are a good number of unfamiliar faces in here. I would appreciate it if you would introduce yourselves.”

The girl Wyatt had gotten into an altercation with earlier was quick to get her introduction out of the way. “I’m Elliot Kowalski and I’m eighteen years old.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Mr. Hill said with a nod and a small smile before looking around the room expectantly, waiting for the next person to speak up.

When the room remained silent for an uncomfortable amount of time, Oliver decided to get his introduction over with, clearing his throat before speaking. “My name is Oliver Hayes. I’m nineteen.”

Mr.Hill sent him a warm welcoming smile before turning to the rest of the room once again. “Come on, guys. Let’s keep the flow.”

The sound of other voices drowned out in the background when Oliver felt a poke at his shoulder. He glanced back to see Lucas staring down at him to his surprise. Disregarding his first day there, Lucas hadn’t really spoken to him much.

“You’re only nineteen?”

Oliver nodded. “That’s what I said…”

Lucas paused, nodding to himself briefly. “Are you turning twenty this year?”

“No, my birthday’s in May.”

“What year are you in college?” he heard Wyatt ask.

Oliver frowned slightly. “It’s my first year. Why so many questions?”

“Guys, he’s nineteen and he went into college one year late because of financial issues. Is that really so hard to believe?” Gabriel spoke up in a rushed whisper. “Now could you guys shut up please?”

Oliver was going to tell Gabriel that it was fine. He didn’t mind the questioning even though he thought it to be a little odd. He really couldn’t see why him going into college at his current age was such a big deal himself. Not everyone was financially well off and not everyone was emotionally or physically prepared to go. Before he could get a syllable out, though, Wyatt had his own thoughts to get out.

“You talk a lot of shit to your friends but won’t speak a word to assholes that are fucking with you,” Wyatt challenged, narrowing his eyes at Gabriel. “What’s that about shorty?”

“It’s because you’re nosy and you never stop talking.”

Wyatt let out a soft laugh, the sound coming out completely unamused. “Oh, so now it’s only about me? Lucas was asking questions too. And you can’t blame me for being fucking nosy. None of us know shit about Oliver besides you and every time we try to get to know him you always get upset.”

Gabriel turned to glare at Wyatt, folding his arms over his chest. “You’re right. I’m the only one who knows anything about Oliver so I know what makes him uncomfortable and what doesn’t. Not to mention, you don’t ask the typical questions. You ask the intrusive ones that are none of your business. If Oliver wants to tell you something, he’ll tell you.”

“And if he _doesn’t_ want to tell me something, he won’t,” Wyatt pointed out with a roll of his eyes. “He has a fucking brain, shorty. He can speak for his damn self so stop being so fucking over the top.”

“I’m not being over the top. You’re just-”

“Can you both just shut the fuck up already?” Evan hissed in irritation. He’d obviously said it a little too loud because sooner than later, everyone in the room was looking in their direction.

Mr. Hill sighed, rubbing at his forehead as if he were already getting a headache. Shame, considering the competition hadn’t even begun yet. “Is there a problem over there, Evan?”

With a shake of his head, Evan said, “No, sir.”

“You men know it’s rude to talk when others are talking, yes? We’ve all had basic home training, correct?” There was some snickering in the room which quickly died out when the professor sent them a look.

The men nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Don’t interrupt again.”

The men waited impatiently for the introductions to be over with, the air once again tense around them. Less than a couple of minutes later, they were a mixture of anxious and relieved when the professor finally starting explaining the rules of the competition.

“Now for the rules,” Mr. Hill spoke, his deep voice carrying throughout the room. His words were slow and clear, as he by no means wanted to have to repeat anything. “Today is the tenth of December and your break ends January second. This competition should last no more than two weeks if all goes to plan, meaning the competition should be over by Christmas Eve, December twenty-fourth. Knowing that the winning group should receive their prize by the following weekend. Understood?”

Everyone in the room spoke in unison. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.  We currently have twelve different groups competing so there will be eleven or more challenges that will determine a winner. Every day you will be assigned a theme and will be sent home the prepare or gather ideas for your artwork. The following day, you will be here _on time_ early morning to put your ideas to the canvas. Once the given time limit is up, each group will be presenting their artwork. I, along with my assistant here, will decide on a winner as well as the group that will no longer be in this competition. The winner will be given some kind of reward or advantage in the next challenge. After all of this is over, we will give you the next theme and you will be sent home to prepare for it and the cycle only continues. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

He gestured to the woman standing beside him. “This is my dear friend Aurora Rose and she has volunteered to assist me in this competition. She also works with the newspaper and if someone catches her eyes enough, you may find yourself featured in it. It may not seem like much, but that tiny bit of recognition can go far.”

Aurora sent the group a smile and a small wave. “I’m glad to be here and see what you guys have to offer.”

“I hope to see some creative and truly amazing artwork while you guys are here. I also wish every single one of you the best at whatever you decide to pursue outside of this room. Every single one of you has potential and _every single one of you_ can win this competition if you work hard enough.” Aurora grabbed a blue bowl containing little strips of paper and handed it to Mr. Hill who continued by saying, “do we have anyone who would like to draw for our theme?”

Multiple people raised their hands but he ended up picking a guy named Desmond who happened to be in Emilio's group. He read the strip of paper with a grimace. “The topic is… love.”

There were mixed reactions; some relieved, some nonchalant, and some irritated but it didn’t seem to bother the professor in the slightest. He only watched and chuckled to himself before once again, continuing his speech. “Alright, as you’ve heard the topic is love. Please think long and hard about what your definitions of love is. Because it is our first day of competition, I’m going to cut you guys some slack. You have the rest of today and all of tomorrow to think of a concept and put it to paper. In other words for those who didn’t understand, this assignment will be completed at home and brought in. There will be _no_ time given here, so make sure to complete this. With everything said and done, that will be it for today. You may leave and if you have any questions, address me personally.”

Wyatt was fast-walking out of the room as soon as his final sentence left his mouth. He didn’t slow down even when Evan called out to him. Evan shook his head to himself, cursing under his breath, as he ran off to catch up with him.

Lucas hesitantly reached out to pat Oliver’s shoulder, turning to him with a smile. “He isn’t mad at you, just so you know. He just doesn’t like feeling like he’s in the wrong.”

Gabriel scoffed, walking past the pair to make his way to the car. “Yeah, no kidding.”

Oliver had to cover his mouth, fighting back a grin, when Lucas halted Gabriel by grabbing onto his ear in a tight pinch.

Gabriel let out a yelp, turning to glare at Lucas when he finally let go. “What’s your problem?”

Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. “When we get back to the car, don’t say anything to Wyatt even if he says something to you. We need to focus on our assignment and god knows we don’t want to have to deal with the two of you arguing for the rest of the day.”

“Why couldn’t you have just told me that?” Gabriel complained with a wince, rubbing at his ear.

Lucas shrugged. “It’s funnier this way.”

 

The car ride back home was, as promised, mostly silent save for occasional whispers between Evan and Wyatt. Oliver sat next to Gabriel, trying not to get annoyed as the other male played with his hair. For some odd reason, he seemed to be very curious which Oliver didn’t get considering in all the time he’d known Gabriel, his hair had been the same length. It wasn’t as if it was Gabriel’s first time seeing or even touching it.

Oliver frowned when he noticed Gabriel was starting to unbraid it, reaching out a hand to stop him. “Don’t unbraid it, Gabe.”

Gabriel nodded before whispering, “why don’t you ever wear your hair down? It would look so nice on you…”

Oliver shrugged. “I’m sure you can find the answer somewhere in your memory.”

“Whatever.”

As soon as they got home, they each made their way to the dining table to come up with an idea. For the first couple of minutes, they all just sat there silently, looking at each other for answers that weren’t even there. No one knew where to start and to top off, no one knew exactly what the professor was expecting. Did he want everyone to just draw something they love or did he want the art piece to have a deeper meaning than just that? Holy hell, maybe they should have asked some questions while they were there. Just when Oliver was just beginning to internally freak out, Wyatt spoke up.

“Can I just quickly say this topic is bullshit?”

“Yeah, love can be literally anything to someone,” Evan concurred. “It’s like the one word in the dictionary that can’t be defined because there simply is no distinctive definition.”

“I have no idea what we’re expected to do,” Oliver murmured, drumming his fingers against the wooden table in thought. “We could do something simple but if everyone else does something better we’re screwed. The things he’d probably expect the most are hearts, couples, etcetera, so I think we definitely shouldn’t do those. On the other hand, something more thought-provoking might take more time and we could end up putting ourselves in a tough position. We only have two days to get this thought out and put on paper.”

“Not only that,” Lucas muttered, “we need to come up with our own theme, color schemes and we need to decide which art materials we’re going to be using and depending on what we choose, we might even need to go shopping to buy more.”

Gabriel sighed, playing with one of the piercings in his ear idly. “You guys are giving me anxiety.”

“We’ll be fine, Gabriel,” Wyatt reassured from the opposite side of the table. “I bet you we’re not the only ones thinking about all of this. We were all assigned the same topic and given the same information. No group has an advantage over anyone else.”

“But we’re also probably one of the few groups that didn’t ask any questions so you never know,” Oliver pointed out. “We could be at a disadvantage but we won’t be able to tell until Wednesday.”

“Well does anyone have any fucking ideas?” Wyatt questioned, pulling strands loose from his ponytail in irritation. “We don’t have time to just sit around and waste. This day has already been tiring enough as it is…”

“I have nothing…” Lucas murmured, biting at his lower lip.

Evan sighed, standing up from his seat at the table and stretching his arms above his head. “Alright, I don’t think this is going to work so I have a suggestion. How about we all waste an hour or two on ourselves and we’ll come back to this later. You can’t force inspiration to come; we’ll all have to just wait for it.”

The men all nodded, standing up one by one and filtering out of the room.

Gabriel called out to Wyatt, stopping him before he could presumably make his way to his room. Oliver smiled when his friend wrapped his arms around the taller male hesitantly before saying, “no hard feelings, right?”

Wyatt pat him on the back with a roll of his eyes. “You know you’re probably the most annoying person I’ve ever met?”

“Never claimed I wasn’t.” Gabriel pulled away from Wyatt with a slight grin. “Me and Oliver are going to the park if anyone wonders where we are. We shouldn’t be out for too long.”

Wyatt nodded, giving a single wave. “Peace.”

 

The two left out to the park shortly after the conversation. Gabriel, to Oliver’s surprise, decided to bring Milo with the two of them. He had questioned him about it, his only response being something along the lines of, “he could use some sunshine”. That only left more questions in Oliver’s mind considering it wasn’t all that sunny and the temperature showed it. They’d both had the foresight to wear jackets and even then it was still a little chilly.

Once they got there, Gabriel chose to seat himself on the grass rather than the park bench or even one of the swings as Oliver assumed he would. Nevertheless, he sat down next to his friend, deciding to not think too hard on Gabriel’s questionable decisions.

“So why did you want to come here of all places?” Oliver asked, smiling and stroking Milo’s head when the cat decided to curl up in a ball to the right of him.

“Because why not?” Gabriel answered. Oliver jumped slightly when Gabriel stretched out next to him, resting his head on his lap. The male stared up at him with an amused grin, a glint in his dark eyes. “You’re so fidgety about every little touch... Why?”

“I don’t like being touched.”

Gabriel stared at him blankly for some seconds before reluctantly asking, “Does that still apply when it’s me?”

Oliver gave a soft laugh, brushing Gabriel’s hair back from his forehead gently. “Of course not. You’re my exception to a lot of things.”

“Thank god…” Gabriel continued to stare Oliver in the eye as if daring him to lie when he asked him his next question. “Am I still your best friend?”

Oliver frowned at the inquiry. “What?”

“I was just wondering if you’d made any new friends at your college to replace me.”

“I’m not even going to answer that because I know some part of you knows the answer.”

Gabriel smiled, reverting his gaze. “Alright… I’m sorry for what I’m about to ask but I’m just a tad bit curious. Are you actually still a virgin? You know you can tell me the truth and it stays with me.”

Oliver’s face burned a bright red faster than he could think to even get an answer out. Holy hell, he knew the damn answer so he had no idea why it was so hard to say. Not to mention he thought Gabriel had known as well. He is aware of his social anxiety and his overall awkwardness when it comes to people he doesn’t know. Is he just messing with him?

Oliver cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m still a virgin. I thought you knew?”

“I don’t _know_ anything. I only know what you tell me.”  
Oliver hummed his agreement. He continued to run his fingers through Gabriel’s hair, surprised by its softness and the fact that the bright red coloring was fading and his natural hair color was coming back. “You used temporary dye on your hair?”

Gabriel shrugged. “Yeah. I just wanted to try something new for a little while. My hair should be back to black in no time.”

“Alright, well you’ve asked me a thousand of your own questions so can I ask one of my own?” At the nod from the male resting against him, he continued. “Why haven’t you come out to anyone? Do Wyatt and them even know?”

“I'm sure they already know but it wouldn’t be because I told them. You’re the only person I’ve actually told.”

“Why?”

Gabriel exhaled, letting his eyes slip shut as he began to explain. “I haven’t come out to anyone because I don’t, and shouldn’t, have to. It’s my own business and nobody else’s because it affects only me. You don’t see straight people coming out, do you? No, because it’s considered normal. The thing is, loving someone, whether it be the same gender or not, is normal. It’s normal because no one can help who they love. So why should I have to come out?”

Oliver smiled down at Gabriel who still hadn’t opened his eyes, feeling something in his heart that he couldn’t quite place. He felt warm and… content. It was an odd feeling; one he hadn’t ever felt for anyone else before.

No one ever made him feel quite the same way Gabriel did.

“Olive?”

“Yeah?”

Gabriel finally opened his eyes and sat up, placing his hands on Oliver’s shoulders and staring into his eyes with a smile.

“I have an idea.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Okay, so the topic Mr. Hill gave us was love which, like Evan said, can be anything to someone. So why don’t we do a painting that represents the five of us?” Gabriel suggested to the group of young men, the five of them hanging out in Lucas’s bedroom. “We can do silhouetted figures and focus more on the atmosphere. What if it was night time in the painting and it was a starry night, five figures on a hill looking out?”

Wyatt smirked. “You’re so fucking sentimental. Sure, that’d work.”

“But what if instead of doing a painting, we did a soft pastel drawing?” Lucas suggested, looking through his huge thing of drawers to see what materials he had. “Would black construction paper work as a base?”

Gabriel nodded, joining Lucas’s side to glance at what he had. “Sheesh, Lucas. I knew you had a lot of art supplies but not nearly this many. Can I borrow any of that anytime soon?”

Lucas shrugged. “Sure.”

“I asked you some months ago if I could borrow something and you said no,” Evan muttered, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. 

“Yeah, well, blame Wyatt. It isn’t like I don’t necessarily trust you but you and Wyatt play too much and this stuff is expensive.”

Oliver watched as Evan turned to Wyatt with a playful glare and the other male raised his middle finger. At this point he couldn’t really tell if it was them who were constantly be picked on by Wyatt, or Wyatt by them. He sat there silently as everyone talked, simply listening to the conversing and their plans. He was never really authoritative or opinionated and quite frankly, he was quite alright with that. He’d go along with any idea the other four drummed up. 

“Alright,” Lucas began, “as much as I have, I don’t have many soft pastels. I’m gonna go out to get some and probably some other stuff if anyone wants to tag along.”

“I’m staying here,” Evan announced, looking through his phone in very apparent boredom. “Text me if you guys need anything.”

“Alright, I’m going to go get my shoes on…” Wyatt stated with a small wave, making his way out of Lucas’s room with Lucas trailing behind him.

Gabriel turned to Oliver with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not coming?”

Oliver thought about it for a moment and to be completely honest, he didn’t feel like leaving out. Not to mention the task was simple enough. Why would they need four people to shop for pastels?

He shook his head. “I’ll stay here.”

“Okay,” Gabriel nodded with a slight smile, “I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

Some minutes later, the two of them heard the front door to the apartment open and shut and just as Oliver was going to leave the room to find something to occupy his time with, Evan decided to finally to speak up. He leaned back against the headboard of the bed he was resting on, patting the spot next to him.

“You want to talk for a bit?”

Instead of answering, Oliver ended up responding with his own question. “Lucas doesn’t mind you… staying in his room when he isn’t here?”

“Nope,” he answered with a shrug. “I’ve lived with him for almost four years. He’d have to get used to it at some point.”

Oliver could admit it was an acceptable answer though he was still a little bit dubious. He didn’t know many people that were completely okay with the possibility of people going through their things and possibly discovering things that weren’t meant to be discovered. Hell, he honestly doesn’t really enjoy people camping out in his room himself. Depending on who they were, of course.

He took his seat next to the other male, sitting in a cross-legged position. “So… what’d you want to talk about?”

“What’s your story?” Evan asked without missing a beat, his eyes still glued to his phone screen. “Where are you from? How did you and Gabriel meet? How’s life at home? Just the basic stuff…”

“Okay,” Oliver shrugged, pausing for a moment to think before beginning. “I’m from the same place Gabe is; a small town in Illinois. Me and Gabriel met in the fourth grade because I guess he thought I was lonely and could use a friend. He was always thought of as one of the kindest person in the grade so people naturally gravitated toward him and if he didn’t find me weird, I guess everyone else came to the conclusion they didn’t, either. Life at home is… okay.”

“Why just okay?”

For a moment, Oliver had to debate with himself whether or not he wanted to go into detail with his answer. Sure, he believed he reasonably trusted Evan. Hell, he found every single  _ one _ of them to be trustworthy. They all seemed to be fairly forthright and unwilling to hold back on their honest opinions and he respected that in a person. It was easier that way to know whether or not they were actually worth your time.

He settled with giving a partial truth. “Well, my relationship with my stepfather has always been shaky so I don’t really speak with him anymore or my mother for that matter. My mother and I have always had an okay relationship but when my stepfather moved in, he didn’t exactly improve matters. Even then, my mother was the only person I had until Gabriel came along so I learned to deal with it.”

Evan hummed, finally making eye contact with Oliver and tossing his phone somewhere to the side. “Define  _ shaky _ .”

Oliver shrugged, his gaze falling away from the pale blue eyes suddenly refusing to break eye contact. He didn’t know why, probably never would, but there was something about Evan’s gaze that unsettled him. He had a gaze that was hard to lie to, a gaze that made it difficult to keep secrets,  _ secrets _ .

“Okay, we’ll come back to that.” Evan ran his hands through his hair with a sigh, adjusting his glasses before speaking up in a surprisingly mellow tone. “I can tell you I’ve always had a satisfactory life at home but school was never the best for me. You know how high school is. You have to be perfect. You can’t make a single mistake because if you do, there’s a good chance that mistake will never leave you until you graduate.”

“Honestly, even if you  _ are _ the perfect child and the perfect student people will find something to exploit. Whether whatever they say is true or made up, rumors are rumors and if enough people believe in a rumor, it becomes the truth. You don’t really have a say in it.”

Oliver nodded his agreement, a bit astonished the male was willingly sharing so much without having to even be asked. “So what made your school life so bad? Rumors or true mistakes?”

“Where do I start?” Evan asked, laughing softly to himself. “Well for one, I’ve always made impressive grades in school. I found most of my subjects simple and made passing grades with no problem. My only real setbacks were my laziness which is still sort of a problem but whatever. I was also a bit of a loner, preferring to spend my time alone reading or listening to music. To make a long story short, everyone else saw me as the try-hard, antisocial, overconfident emo kid because there was  _ no way _ I could just be a normal teen trying to get by in school just like everyone else. Apparently, that’s  _ far _ too unbelievable and hard to understand.”

Oliver chuckled a bit, the corner of his lips turning up in amusement. “Where did  _ emo  _ come from?”

Evan shrugged. “Well, you know. If someone’s favorite color is black or they prefer to wear the color black, that obviously means they’re emotional and probably depressed or some shit in the shithole teenage dictionary.”

Oliver snorted. “No offense, Evan, but you sound highly passive-aggressive right now.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and you sound like Wyatt, Oliver.  _ No offense _ .”

“Sure. Continue your story.”

“Well, anyway, as I’ve already told you, I was a loner from the get-go but eventually people started to start shit with me and the rumors floating around my name were getting steadily more ridiculous and made up. Eventually, I started to actually snap on people. I’ve gotten into my fair share of fights and admittedly, I probably should have ignored the shit that was going on because, when it came down to it, all of the fighting only made the rumors worse.”

“For a good period of time after that I didn’t have any friends or anyone to really talk to. It can be hard to trust people sometimes… even now. I moved schools when junior year rolled around because my parents were starting to notice things weren’t right. That’s where I met Wyatt and he helped me… open up more. Kinda like you and Gabriel.”

Oliver nodded in complete understanding. He could imagine just how great it must have felt for Evan to break that bubble of constant seclusion and mistrust and along the way, find a friend that was willing to ride-or-die for him. He’d felt that way with Gabriel and to this day, he still couldn’t find a way to thank him enough.

“Some people only see what they want to see and you can’t really help that,” Evan murmured. “Anyone at my school could have sat down and asked about me and why I acted the way I acted. Anyone could have asked if the rumors floating around were true.  _ Anyone _ could have asked for my side of the story but no one wanted to. Why question the things you hear when you can just go along with them?”

“I think I actually preferred my high school life over my life at home,” Oliver admitted. “I never really went through what you did but Gabriel definitely had something to do with that. He  _ was _ the one person who was willing to try to understand me. If it weren’t for him, I don’t even think I’d be here right now…”

“Yeah… Gabriel has a kind heart and I’m glad you got the chance to meet him when you did. I hope you know Gabriel appreciates you just as much as you do him, too. He talks about you all the time. He says your art is amazing, he says you’re one of the coolest people he’s ever met and, don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure he’s also told me once or twice that he loves you more than anyone else he’s ever known. Don’t tell him I said that, though…”

Oliver wasn’t really surprised by any of what Evan had just said, but that didn’t stop his face from warming in slight embarrassment. He knew it was just the way Gabriel was but sometimes his heart just didn’t agree with his mind’s logic. His face flushed deeper when Evan laughed at his reaction, his gaze once again landing elsewhere. 

“You don’t have to be so embarrassed,” Evan said from under his hand, trying to muffle his laughter but failing miserably. “You should know by now Gabriel’s a very open person and doesn’t really hold back on how he feels. I just thought I should let you know. I’m sure there’s a reason you don’t want to talk about life at home so I won’t push it any further. You can talk to me anytime about it if you want.”

“Yeah,” Oliver nodded even as he continued to frown at the way-too-smug look on Evan’s face. “I’m sorry I didn’t share much-”

“It’s cool,” Evan reassured, giving him a thumbs up. He paused for a few seconds, chewing the bottom of his lip in thought. “What has Wyatt told you about me? Don't tell me  _ nothing _ because I seriously doubt that.”

“Well, he told me not to tell you but I'm guessing you don't care about that?” Evan only stared at him, waiting for him to answer which he did after some seconds. “He told me you don’t open up all that easy because of bad past experiences. He also said something about him being the person who’s closest to you; basically what you just told me. Why'd you ask?” 

“Just curious. Wyatt has a big mouth and sometimes I have to wonder what type of stuff he says behind my back.”

Oliver once again nodded, watching as Evan picked up his phone and grabbed his earbuds, taking that as his cue that the conversation was over. And what a good conversation it was, for the most part. He could definitely respect Evan’s character and his willingness to share so much with someone who was still practically a stranger. Learning just that little bit from Evan made it so much easier to realize that he wasn’t the only one with hardships and struggles; that he could talk about it and everything would be fine.

 

Oliver spent the rest of his time idly sketching in his sketchbook until they arrived with the needed materials around twenty minutes later. They were quick to get to work, Lucas immediately going into work on the background of the pastel drawing. He lightly ran a blue pastel onto the sheet of black construction paper, blending the color out a bit with the tip of his index finger before going in with a different shade. 

“Guess who we saw at the art store,” Lucas said, briefly turning to Oliver before turning back to continue his work. “Elliot and her friends were there.”

“Did anything happen?”

“Not really,” he shrugged, “but I did get to talk to Dakota; the girl with a purple hair.”

“Is she an asshole like her little friend?” Evan questioned, putting special emphasis on  _ “friend”  _ before handing Lucas a purple pastel.

“No, actually. She’s actually really nice.” Lucas paused for a second, muttering his next statement under his breath. “And kinda cute…”

“Are you serious?” Wyatt asked, cocking an eyebrow at the man in question. “Don’t even think about fucking our competition, Lucas.”

Gabriel laughed. “Especially not competition from  _ their _ team.”

“Something about those three is odd,” Evan said, adding onto the conversation. “They act more like coworkers than friends. Especially with Elliot bossing Dakota around the way she does.”

“Why do you guys hate them so much?” Oliver asked, taking his seat next to Lucas to work alongside him. “They don’t bother me nearly as much as Emilio does.”

“Yeah, he’s a dick, too.”

They worked together in silence from there and somehow, Oliver found the quietness of the room more comforting than the sound of conversation. Whenever he dedicated anytime to drawing or doodling himself, he usually preferred to work in silence. Though it’d been a good while since he had last done a soft pastel drawing, it still felt so easy to him; simple. 

Once the background was complete and blended out; a smooth blend of blues, purples, pinks, blacks, oranges, and yellows, Wyatt and Evan took their place to add the second component to the drawing. The two of them didn’t have to worry about the usage of color or having to blend anything out, instead only using a black pastel to draw the outline of a hill before working to fill it out.

It was odd to see Wyatt so quiet and focused, giving his undivided attention to the work in front of him, but at the same time, it seemed about right. The two of them seemed to work well together; their quiet communication and trust in each other’s skills making it easy for them to progress. When it came time for them to draw the five figures, Oliver was surprised to see how easy it was for the two of them; a seemingly mindless task.

“How is that so easy for you guys?” Oliver couldn’t help but to ask.

“Practice,” Wyatt answered simply. “I’m used to drawing people. It’s all I ever draw, really.”

“He draws porn,” Evan muttered with a grin.

Wyatt let out an annoyed groan. “Evan, I swear to God, don’t fucking start-”

“Well, don’t you?”

Wyatt didn’t even bothered replying to the teasing question, his attention no longer on drawing, but instead focused on glaring at Evan. “I don’t actually draw porn, Oliver. Evan is just being an annoying asshole.”

“Wyatt draws nude figures sometimes,” Evan explained. “He does it in a artful manner, though, not pornographically. I was just joking around.”

Oliver chuckled. “Well that seemed to work out for you. I couldn't draw human figures if my life depended on it. I can only draw from the shoulders, up.”

“Well, what do you usually draw, then?” Wyatt asked.

“Nothing too exciting. Just still life and atmospheric things; the stuff you’d see in your everyday life.”

Lucas smiled. “That’s cool. Anatomy isn't really for everyone. Evan and Wyatt just happen to be surprisingly good at it.”

“We’re just about finished,” Evan said, running the black pastel over the piece of paper almost delicately, ever so careful. “And once we are, we can work on adding the little details into it.”

“I’ll take care of it since I haven’t done much of anything else,” Gabriel offered, taking a sip from the coffee in his hand. “Do you guys think this will be enough?”

Wyatt scoffed. “It better be and if it isn’t, I blame you.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes just as Evan and Wyatt completely doing their part in the project. Taking their spot, he immediately began to add different shades of colors to the drawing and tiny freckles of white to represent stars.  “Do you have anything better to do than be a jerk?”

“No, not really.”

Gabriel laughed. “I don’t even know why I asked.”

Within the next ten minutes, the project was completed and stashed away safely until the next morning when the competition would officially start. The rest of the evening was rather lax, for the group of them didn’t have much to do except for worry for the results they would be receiving the next day. Oliver was fairly confident they would do fine and Gabriel seemed to be, too. Or at the very least, Gabriel seemed to be trying to convince himself of that. 

Whether Oliver’s assumption was correct or not, Gabriel never brought it up so neither did he.

 

It was later that night when Oliver woke up in a panic, terrified by a dream he couldn’t even remember. His heart was beating too fast, his breathing far too heavy. When he felt something grab him around the waist, he couldn’t even begin to decipher who it was. He elbowed whoever the mystery person was somewhere he didn’t see. All he knew was he was relieved when they finally let go. 

Oliver sat there for a moment, trying to regain his breath and understand just what frightened him in the first place. He knew he had had a nightmare, but what was it about? It had to have been something terrible considering the fact that he didn't usually scare from bad dreams. Most of the time he would just acknowledge them and go straight back to sleep. His eyes widened in a mix of guilt and shock when he heard Gabriel whispered his name from behind him, his voice audibly hoarse. 

“Olive, you okay?”

Oliver turned to his friend, frowning at the telling way Gabriel was rubbing at his neck in pain. His voice was faint when he said, “Oh, God I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to strike you.”

Gabriel only gave him a small smile that honestly didn’t mean much considering his eyes were still watery as if he was on the verge of shedding tears. “It’s no big deal; I’ll live. What did you dream about? Do you want to talk about it?”

Oliver shook his head with a shaky sigh. “I can’t remember anything…”

Gabriel held out his arm in a silent invitation for Oliver to lay against him which Oliver gladly took, resting his head on the other man's shoulder. Gabriel began humming some tune that he wasn’t quite familiar with, rubbing circles into arm in an attempt to calm him down a bit. It worked, the soft melodic tune and the feeling of his warmth making it easy for Oliver to begin to doze off. 

“I almost forgot you have such an amazing voice…” Oliver murmured, his eyes meeting Gabriel’s for a moment before fluttering shut as fatigue once again washed over him. 

Gabriel let out a laugh. “I bet it’d sound better if you hadn’t elbowed me in the throat.”

Oliver’s eyes opened again at the comment, a soft huff of laughter escaping his mouth. He sat up to gentle cup the side of Gabriel’s neck, rubbing soothing circles into the skin while looking him right in the eye. He didn’t think about the action nor question it. He just did it.

“I said I was sorry,” Oliver whispered. “I don’t know what else you want me to do. Is it seriously not that bad? Are you sure it doesn't still hurt?”

Gabriel didn’t answer, instead closing the small distance between them to press his lips against Oliver’s. His lips were so soft, so velvety, that Oliver couldn’t help but to immediately return the gesture, his eyes falling shut. A feeling of warmth radiated through his chest, his hand that was once on Gabriel’s neck moving to cup the side of his face as the kiss began to deepen. 

 The soft scent radiating off of Gabriel helped him relax into the kiss further. He felt Gabriel's hand on his lower waist, that  _ slight _ touch seeming so fiery and intense. Gabriel let out a low, indiscernible sound of contentment, guiding Oliver a little closer even though he was already as close as he was going to get. Oliver hoped Gabriel couldn't feel the heavy beating of his heart with their chests pressed together the way they were.

As exhilarating as it had felt, Oliver eventually put a stop to it when he felt himself becoming a little bothered.

They only stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before Gabriel finally broke their staring contest and tried to get comfortable as he laid back down. Oliver didn’t wait for Gabriel to have to request it, laying down on against his friend’s chest and letting a small smile grace his lips when Gabe immediately wrapped his arms around him and placed a kiss to his forehead.

“Let’s get some sleep. We have to be prepared for whatever Mr. Hill is going to spring on us tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

Only as Oliver was finally surrendering to sleep for the second time that night did his brain begin to fully register what the hell had just happened. His eyes widened and he prayed Gabriel couldn't hear the sound of his heart once again drumming in his chest.

He’d just had his first kiss and it was with none other than Gabriel; his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Quote: What would you do if you were not afraid?


End file.
